Kansas State women’s basketball team getting national buzz after huge win at No. 2 Iowa

In the world of women’s college basketball, wins don’t come much bigger than the one that Kansas State pulled off against No. 2 Iowa on Thursday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.

The Wildcats went on the road to test themselves against one of the best players (and teams) in the entire country. They returned home with a 65-58 victory that created national buzz.

K-State is clearly a team to be reckoned with now that it has Ayoka Lee back fully healthy at center. The Wildcats struggled without the All-American last season as she recovered from a knee injury, but they also showed flashes that made head coach Jeff Mittie think they could have a special year with her back in the lineup.

“You’re just seeing so many great players play this game right now,” Mittie said. “And we’re probably reaping the benefit a little bit of that COVID extra year, where you’ve got some great players that have hung around and veterans and teams that are older and some of that’s been really fun to watch.

“From our perspective, we had a lot of injuries last year. This is a team that we felt like could be a really good basketball team. To be a part of it now and to have this opportunity and to do some things in playing well enough to have an opportunity to win at the end and to finish it is pretty special. It’s really special to watch.”

No one is going to argue with him about that after Lee and the Cats beat star guard Caitlin Clark and the Hawkeyes. Lee racked up 22 points and 12 rebounds and K-State ended Thursday’s game on a 12-0 run.

They showed the highlights on ESPN’s “Sportscenter.”

Sure, Clark finished with 24 points. But she needed to take 32 shots to reach that total. K-State did an outstanding job on defense against the most recognizable player in women’s basketball. Lee was much more efficient, finishing 9 of 14 from the field.

Perhaps she deserves a little more attention for national awards.

In any case, she is glad to be back.

“The opportunity to play tonight made it so worth it,” Lee said. “To pull through with the win with my teammates beyond the score, to be able to celebrate with them and to be able to be in the huddle with them, to be able to talk to them when we’re falling like crazy and to be able to talk to them when we’re not scoring ... I think all those moments matter so much.”

Now it’s time to see if K-State has staying power.

The Wildcats also defeated Iowa last season at Bramlage Coliseum, but that didn’t propel them to a memorable season. Mittie is hopeful that things will be different this time around because it wasn’t just one player who was responsible for this result.

Zyanna Walker scored 12 important points, Gabby Gregory made some clutch shots and Taryn Sides grabbed six rebounds. Every K-State player who stepped on the floor scored. It was a great team effort.

K-State also played outstanding on defense, as Iowa connected on just 22 of 61 shots from the field and 2 of 21 from three-point range. Clark, in particular, had to settle for difficult looks.

With Lee back in the fold, it’s fair to say that many have underrated the Wildcats this season. That will likely change next week, assuming K-State enters the AP Top 25.

No matter what comes next, there’s no debating the fact that K-State made a big-time statement against Iowa.